[xZ1mM3r]

Hey everyone. I'm new to Brewing. I got into all grain brewing and love it! I bought everything I needed to brew a Hef, it's been fermenting for about a week and a half now. It's in my laundry room, on a concrete floor, my temp is around 61 F, is that too cold?? I also am worried about getting bacteria in my batch and ruining it, I'm using sanitizer but it's still on my mind. How often does a batch get ruined?? Anyways. Just here to say I'm new to the group, love the brew process. Here's some photos.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

welcome! looks like a nice set up to brew.

sanitation is important. cleanliness up front and having a good healthy pitch of yeast that takes over before any potential bacteria can take hold is key. if you start with sanitized and clean equipment after the boil - starsan for example on clean equipment, you will IME be A-OK.

sit back, watch, and enjoy the process....you will almost inevitably make beer free from infection.

low 60's is also good letting it rise slightly to 65-67F after about 72 hours- for hefe yeast you will likely get more clove and less banana esters-the later happens most with warmer fermentation temps 66-67F +.

[xZ1mM3r]

Thanks! I think I'll like the clove flavor more anyways so that's perfect.

[egg]

Hi there.  Good luck with the brew! Wort in an FV on a concrete floor will likely be colder than the room temp, apart from at peak activity, which you may well realise

What yeast are you using? I had WLP300 right down to 57f, at which temperature it was bereft of any banana at all. Decent beer, but I prefer some banana in there.  I have my second hefe fermenting at a constant 66f right now, and that has thrown out huge banana smells and a escaped the FV after 20hrs!

[xZ1mM3r]

Ok ill keep that in mind. It's been fermenting where it's at for about 10 or 11 days. Will it benefit the flavor at all to move it to a warmer space for a few days? Or is the flavor already set?

[xZ1mM3r]

Also, I used WYEAST 3068, Weihenstephan

[egg]

That's reportedly the same strain as my WLP300, Weihenstephan.

Raising it now is unlikely to change the flavour profile.  Most of that is set while the yeast is growing in the first 48 hours or less.  However, raising it a little now may ensure complete attenuation; I would (say 70f), but some may not.   If you monitor the gravity you will see if it has truly finished over the next couple of days.

[Wort-H.O.G.]

Ok ill keep that in mind. It's been fermenting where it's at for about 10 or 11 days. Will it benefit the flavor at all to move it to a warmer space for a few days? Or is the flavor already set?

yeah its likely at or very close to FG at this point. I'd just check the FG with your hydrometer and see where you are at to make sure it didn't stall out at cool temps.  your mash temp and grist coupled with yeast should have given you a target FG to compare. if it were to be at say 1.018 and you were expecting something lower like 1.012, I might then rouse the yeast gently and warm it up to around 70F to see if greater attenuation could be achieved. 

[brewinhard]

Welcome!

At this point in the fermentation, I would bring it somewhere a bit warmer. You can get it close to 68-70F with no ill effects at this point.  The yeast have done most of their fermentation and creation of byproducts (esters, phenolics, etc) and now need to clean up after themselves and condition the beer which they do better at warmer temps.

[xZ1mM3r]

Thanks guys!